The Silver Surfer is stupid.
I mean, c’mon. It’s a guy, who’s silver from head to toe, who rides a surfboard…through space, and all the while belting out Shakespearean-esque monologues. There is no possible way this idea should work…and yet, not only do most comic fans take this creation of Jack Kirby in stride, but the Silver Surfer is one of those few characters whose image has been embraced by folks in the “real” world as well…even being name-checked in films like Richard Gere’s Breathless and in a well-known scene, written by Quentin Tarantino, from Crimson Tide. There’s just something about the iconic presence of the character, an elegant figure riding his board through the stars, that appeals to people, whether they’re aware of his four-color origins or not.
There have been other silly sports/recreation inspired comic book characters, like outer-space hockey goalie Gaard, or Kirby’s embodiment of death-on-skis, the Black Racer…why we didn’t get the Hoopster, with his cosmic powered slam-dunk of destruction, or Zamboni-Prime, the mighty shape-shifting robot that travels from planet to planet, resurfacing ice at their poles, I can’t imagine.
But the Silver Surfer, as goofy an idea as he apparently is, has stuck around for forty years now, ever since Kirby snuck him into the artwork for the March 1966 issue of Fantastic Four. Not only stuck around, but has managed to maintain a measure of fondness from the character’s fans, including yours truly.
Even if he is kind of silly-looking.
Additional linkage:
This article discusses the origins of the Silver Surfer, and compares and contrasts Kirby’s take on the character with Lee’s. Lots of original pencil work is presented.
A short bio on the Surfer.
Here’s an authorized Marvel fan site for the character, featuring fan fiction for your enjoyment.
The “oldest continuously running Silver Surfer forum on the internet.”
An old page with some Surfer images and related links.
Another Silver Surfer page, with an extensive collection of original comic art.
The Jack Kirby Comics weblog looks at issue #18 of the original series, as well as the 1970s graphic novel.
Remember the Silver Surfer animated series? Well, refresh your memory with this page devoted to the show.
A collection of links regarding a possible Surfer film. And here’s an old rumor about the Rock starring as the Surfer. (Also mentions a Scorpion King 2, which is about as likely as an X-men 4.)
A brief animation showing the Surfer zipping through space. Warning: techno music.
Steve Englehart talks a bit about his work on the character.
Reviews of a few Silver Surfer graphic novels and trade paperbacks.
Here’s a painted and assembled ’89 Horizon model kit.
This desktop image features the Surfer flying off the cover of his first issue. Neat.
Another computer generated image.
A summary of the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer team-up.
Silver Surfer versus the Pepsi Duck.
Silver Surfer makes an appearance on the cover of this Joe Satriani album.
From my all-time favorite message board, Killer Movies, comes this “silver surfer vs ghostrider” discussion:
“you think silver surfer is better at surfing then ghost rider doing stunts ?
thats how ghostrider got killed and became a ghost is from killing himself doing a stunt. so yes i think ghost rider is better doing stunts then silver surfer surfing.”“your wrong about that the penance stair can hurt surfer because he is not insane and he has hurt alot of people in the past thats what sucks about being a harald of big G you got like billions of deaths on your head and Surfer does have that he has caused pain and thus he is even more vunreable to the penance stair and for your info the stair was used on galactus himself almost killing him you think surfer would do any better?”
“Hmmmmmm , surfer does have a board , which indicates that he could possibly surf/snowboard…but GR has a motorcycle made from hellfire…..which is badass…….damn this is a difficult choice “
Here’s the Marvel Legends Silver Surfer action figure, which is packaged with Howard the Duck, for some reason. Yes, I have one…I got it for the duck. A more extensive review may be found here.
On a related note, here are a bunch of bootleg Surfer toys. Enjoy “The Star Surfer.”
Some neat Surfer statues — I like the one with Galactus’ hand.
Screenshots from the Silver Surfer video game.
This excerpt from Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book (by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon) mentions Stan Lee’s proposed treatment for a Surfer movie (fourth paragraph from the end).
Mag nit-picks some boastful claims made about the Surfer.
Silver Surfer: The Lost Adventure – a cancelled project by Jean-Marc Lofficier and J.O. Ladronn.
Some British company tried to register the name “Silver Surfer” for clothing and toys lines, to which Marvel had a minor objection. Here’s a very brief summary of the ruling in Marvel’s favor, but you really should download the PDF file to see the huge list of products that Marvel had licensed the Surfer for. (Ear muffs?)
Links to three CGI Surfer images.
The Silver Surfer limited edition Heroclix figure.
An article about a Silver Surfer story that appeared only in France.
Another “versus” disussion, this time involving Superman versus the Surfer. “Surfer’s far more powerful, Supes is a better fighter. The one thing you don’t want to do though is piss off the Silver Surfer. If Supes angers the surfer at all, he’s toast.” There’s seven pages of stuff like that. Fantastic.
Silver Surfer Funny Club. Well, that’s what it says.
I’ll let YTMND.com wrap it all up.